1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus displaying intersection information and the like which is superimposed on a map image in the vicinity of a user""s vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a car navigation apparatus detects the current position of a vehicle, reads map data in the vicinity thereof from a data storage medium such as CD (Compact Disc) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), and displays it on a screen. A vehicle position mark representing the position of the vehicle is displayed in the middle of the screen. In accordance with the travel of the vehicle, the map data in the neighborhood is scrolled while centered on this vehicle position mark, so that map information in the vicinity of the vehicle is always shown. When an intersection approaches, intersection guiding images of traffic signals, traffic signs (one-way traffic sign and the like), a route number, the number of lanes, the intersection name, and the like are shown superimposed one after another.
Recently, it has become common to use a map image as seen in the traveling direction of the vehicle using a bird""s eye view, in which the position of viewing is set at a predetermined position above the vehicle. When the map image is shown using a bird""s eye view in this manner, compared to a case in which the map image is shown in a plan view (in a two-dimensional manner), since an image is shown which is more similar to the view actually observed by a driver, there is an advantage in that the driver can easily recognize the traveling direction of the vehicle.
When a map image in the vicinity of a vehicle is shown using a bird""s eye view in the above-described manner, there is a disadvantage in that the perspective of the displayed map image is hard to recognize. In particular, when the displayed map image includes a plurality of intersections and guiding images which represent information (traffic lights, the presence or absence of traffic control, lane information, and the like) for each intersection, all displayed at the same time, it is difficult to recognize the corresponding relationship between the guiding images and the intersections as to which guiding images belong to which intersections.
The present invention is made in view of such problems. The object thereof is to provide a navigation apparatus which enables the position on the map corresponding to each of various guiding images to be easily recognized.
To this end, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a car navigation apparatus including a map-image creating device for creating a map image observed ahead, in the traveling direction, of a vehicle from a predetermined position of a viewpoint, a guiding-image creating device for creating a guiding image including information on a predetermined intersection included in the map image, an auxiliary-image creating device for creating an auxiliary image showing which intersection included in the map image relates to the guiding image, and an image display device for synthesizing the guiding image created by the guiding-image creating device and the auxiliary image created by the auxiliary-image creating device on the map image created by the map image creating device and for displaying the synthesized image.
Since the auxiliary image makes clear the corresponding relationships between the guiding images and the intersections, a user such as the driver of the vehicle can easily recognize the location on the map image corresponding to a guiding image.
In a navigation apparatus, the guiding image may show information on intersections within a predetermined distance from the position of the vehicle.
In the navigation apparatus, the auxiliary image may include a leader line extending from a predetermined position in the intersection to the guiding image.
In the navigation apparatus, the guiding image may include one of a route number, lane information, and an intersection name.
In the navigation apparatus, the guiding-image creating device may set the display area or the display color of the guiding image in a variable manner in accordance with the distance between a corresponding intersection and the position of the vehicle.
Since the guiding images corresponding to an intersection in the vicinity of the position of the vehicle are more important, by varying the area or the display color of these guiding images so that the guiding images appears more noticeable the user can positively recognize guiding information on the highly important intersection at a glance.
In the navigation apparatus, preferably, the map image created by the map-image creating device includes a region corresponding to the sky, and the image display device displays guiding images superimposed one after another in the region corresponding to the sky in the map image. Generally, since information on roads, neighboring facilities, and the like are important in a map image, by displaying the guiding information superimposed one after another in the region corresponding to the sky, information on the roads and the like, which is very important, can be prevented from being visually blocked and a wasteful region of the display screen can effectively be used.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a navigation apparatus includes a map-image creating device for creating map image data in which a building is displayed in a three-dimensional manner so as to look like that which a user observes ahead, in the traveling direction, of a vehicle from a predetermined position of a viewpoint, a guiding-image creating device for creating a guiding image including information on a predetermined intersection included in the map image, an auxiliary-image creating device for creating an auxiliary image showing which intersection included in the map image relates to the guiding image, and an image display device for synthesizing the guiding image created by the guiding-image creating device and the auxiliary image created by the auxiliary-image creating device on the map image created by the map image creating device and for displaying the synthesized image.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a navigation apparatus includes a map-image creating device for creating a map image observed ahead, in the traveling direction, of a vehicle from a predetermined position of a viewpoint, a guiding-image creating device for, when a guiding route is set, creating a guiding image including information on intersections along the guiding route, an auxiliary-image creating device for creating an auxiliary image showing which intersection included in the map image relates to the guiding image, and an image display device for synthesizing the guiding image created by the guiding-image creating device and the auxiliary image created by the auxiliary-image creating device on the map image created by the map image creating device and for displaying the synthesized image.
When a guiding route is set on the map image, preferably, the above-described guiding-image creating device creates the guiding images corresponding to each of the intersections along the guiding route. When the guiding route is set, since it is assumed that the user travels along this guiding route, by causing the guiding images corresponding to the intersections along this guiding route to be displayed with priority, the display of unnecessary guiding images is omitted and good visibility can be obtained.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.